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World Aquatics to launch ‘open’ category for transgender swimmers at Berlin event

World Aquatics will debut an 'open category' at a World Cup in Berlin in October for transgender competitors, the governing body announced on Wednesday.

Published: 16 August 2023 16:55 CEST

swimming

Silhouette of a diver in London. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/PA Wire | Bradley Collyer

The “pilot project” will be the first of its kind at swimming World Cups.

World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA, voted in 2022 to ban male-to-female transgender athletes from competing in the women’s competitions at major events such as the Olympics and World Cups, while creating a working group to establish an open category.

In Berlin, the open category will offer 50-metre and 100-metre races in all swimming strokes but World Aquatics said it could be expanded.

READ ALSO: German plans to make legal gender change easier

Governing body president Husain Al-Musallam said in a statement that World Aquatics were “committed to exploring the creation of an open category” when updating the eligibility requirements in 2022.

The governing body said in a statement that the creation of the category showed its “unwavering commitment to inclusivity, welcoming swimmers of all sex and gender identities.”

German Swim Federation chairman Kai Morgenroth said “Berlin is thrilled to champion this groundbreaking initiative”.

“We’re proud to host an event where swimmers can compete without barriers.”

READ ALSO: ‘I am a woman with every fibre of my body’: Germany’s first transgender MP

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How to watch the 2024 Paris Paralympics on TV in Germany

The Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games will take place from August 28th to September 8th this year.

Blind football, wheelchair fencing, sitting volleyball, swimming, judo, shooting and many more events will be among the sports included at the Paris 2024 games. Whatever happens, the determination, skill and self-improvement of the world’s best Paralympians will be on full display.

About 4,400 athletes will participate across 549 events in 22 sports and representing a range of disabilities.

Germany’s complete Paralympic team includes around 80 athletes.

How to watch the 2024 Paris Paralympics in Germany

Similar to the Paris Olympics, the Paris Paralympics will can be streamed freely online or on TV by Germany’s largest public broadcasters, ARD and ZDF.

ZDF is scheduled to broadcast the opening of the games on August 28th starting at 8:15 pm, and ARD will broadcast events the next day. From then on the two broadcasters will alternate days until through the end of the games.

A full schedule of coverage can be found here.

In a sign of the increasing popularity of parasports in Germany, ARD will show parts of the Paralympic Games live during peak programming hours for the first time ever.

President of the National Paralympic Committee Germany, Friedhelm Julius Beucher, commended the decision in a statement: “Paralympics at primetime! It’s historic and amazing, but it’s also appropriate and overdue.”

Andrea Eskau leads Germany’s delegation during the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. She won two Gold medals in sitting biathlon events there. Photo: Thomas LOVELOCK / OIS/IOC / AFP

An experienced squad

Among team Germany are plenty of athletes who have already proven themselves on the world stage. Here are just a couple potential medal winners to keep an eye on:

Among the most experienced members of the German squad for the Paralympics is Markus Rehm, a 35-year old track and field athlete who holds four gold medals from previous Paralympic games – three for the long jump and one in the 4×100 metre relay.

Rehm is focusing on the long jump for Paris. Rehm has a prosthetic lower leg after suffering a wakeboarding accident in his youth.

Another accomplished medal winner, Andrea Eskau, 53, is truly a year-round athlete. She holds four Gold medals in the handbike event from summer games, and four Gold medals in the winter biathlon.

Eskau was partially paralysed in a cycling accident in 1998, but clearly she hasn’t let that keep her away from biking or other high-octane sports.

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